PokerWorld

Back to the basics

First I would like to apology for the slow updaterate now during the summer. I am now a married man and as such things takes extra time. I have been changing game now for some time and went back to the basics, playing Fixed Limit Holdem. The game that I started to play 5 years ago, and the game I have been able to adjust to the most. I think it is a good idea for all players to play different types of poker to find out what suits them the best, and to develop new skills. I know that many NL players says when they try to FL that this has helped them open up their game in NL as well.

When Texas Holdem was founded it was only played in the Fixed Limit format, but the TV format changed the whole poker scene and nowadays it is nowhere near the same amount of FL games as there is NL games. Here at Pokerworld you can find games going and they are mainly good ones with several weak players. Fixed Limit is a game of small margins. A river descision can be very crucial with huge pot odds that makes an incorrect fold a gigantic mistake that can be the difference between being a winner and a loser. As every Big Bet is important you also have to think more about your last bet.

Is your bet a value bet or are you valuebetting for your opponent? If you think you have the best hand it is of course a value bet, but if you hold a marginal hand it is easy to get it backwards. You might bet and see your opponent fold and become happy that he did, but in those cases you need to look back at what holdings he might have. If you bet and think your opponent will fold a better hand than yours you should be happy, but if he folded a worse hand than yours and you think he might have tried to bluff if you had checked you have lost a bet.

If you bet and get called by a better hand you also need to stop and think. Would my opponent have bet this hand against me if I checked, or did my bet just cost me another bet? Often the answer here is that if the hand is slightly better than yours, but still a very marginal hand, like A high he is just going to check behind you. So before betting the river, stop a second and think. Am I betting because I think I have the best hand, if not, is it likely my opponent will fold a better hand if I bet. If the answer is "no" you have to decide if you think your opponent will check behind his better hands making you save a bet when he does. To stop value betting your opponents hands for them is an important skill both in Fixed and No Limit!

Good luck at the tables to next week, rumours are you can soon bust me in bounty tournaments!

Per “Illvillja” Wolf

PokerWorld Pro

 

 

 

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